A returned item taught me where the transaction continues

At the end of a busy weekend, the shop's sales report could look settled while a trolley of returned goods waited behind the service desk. Some items could go straight back on sale. Others needed inspection, new packaging or a decision about damage. In my first retail accounts role, I learnt that the transaction and the work it created did not always finish together. Thirty years later, that remains a useful starting point for the questions I ask as a CFO.

I completed an accountancy degree at Orsella Institute in June 1996 and joined Lunvare Retail the following month. My early work involved store reconciliations and the financial records around stock movement. I was one member of a nine-person accounts team, without management responsibility. Store colleagues helped me understand why a difference in the records could reflect a process that needed attention rather than simply a number that needed clearing. I became more useful when I could follow the event behind the entry.

In March 2003, I moved into store financial control at Lunvare. I led six colleagues and supported an eighteen-store group as it expanded its household-goods range. The work brought occupancy, staffing and stock decisions into the same view. A store could appear weak after central allocations while still generating cash before those costs; another could report attractive sales while needing substantial refurbishment. I learnt to explain the measure being used before asking an operating manager to act on it.

I joined Seravel Home in January 2010 as head of merchandise finance. The business was smaller then, with twenty-six stores and a developing direct-sales offer. My remit concerned buying plans, seasonal exposure and the economics of a range, working alongside merchandise directors rather than replacing their product judgement. A lower purchase price was useful only in the context of quantities and likely demand. I became interested in the commitments made long before a product appeared in a sales report.

The move to channel finance in August 2016 added online fulfilment, digital acquisition and the overlap between stores and the website. Customers did not organise their decisions around our reporting departments. They could examine an item in a shop, order later online and return it through a different location. A narrow channel account could make one part of the journey appear successful while another carried the cost. I worked with operating colleagues to make those connections visible without claiming that a precise allocation could reveal every cause of a purchase.

Seravel's founders brought in a minority growth investor in 2020. I became CFO in April 2021, reporting to the chief executive and leading thirty-one finance colleagues through four direct reports. I attend board discussions in an executive presentation capacity, not as a director. The business now employs 850 people across forty-four stores and its online operations. Its 2025 SGD240 million net revenue is attributed as SGD108 million online and SGD132 million to stores, while the customer journey often crosses both.

One campaign made the difference between order momentum and a completed commercial result especially clear. An SGD8.4 million cohort became SGD7.2 million of net sales after cancellations and refunds. Product cost for the retained sales, fulfilment, payment, return-handling and media expenditure left SGD800,000 of management contribution before central costs. That was a positive result, but substantially different from the impression created by the order dashboard. I wanted the next promotion judged with that fuller account rather than against the excitement of its first weekend.

Gift-card reviews added another distinction: cash can arrive while the company still owes a customer goods and service. I wanted that future work represented in the plan rather than hidden by the usefulness of an early receipt.

I have used the same approach to store renewals and seasonal buying. A shorter lease extension can preserve a later choice while costing more per year. A smaller purchase can avoid an early commitment while creating a risk of missed demand or expensive replenishment. I do not regard caution as an answer on its own. The value of finance is to explain the choice, its timing and the exposure the enterprise accepts. In a future board role, I would bring that discipline while learning how another company's customers, commitments and operating model differ from the ones I know.